Chuseok at a Fish Market

How Danny and I celebrated Chuseok wasn’t anything like what I heard from other 며느리 (myeonuri or daughter in law). This year, Chuseok was a 4-day celebration. It’s one of the major holidays in Korea, as families gather together in one home to feast, play traditional games or just chit chat. The women and young ones are expected to help prepare the food and stay in the kitchen almost all day to cook and clean. That’s probably why myeonuris fear the holidays. Our family acknowledges Chuseok but doesn’t celebrate such occasion due to different religion views.

My sister was scheduled to arrive late afternoon on the day of Chuseok. While waiting for her, Danny and I decided to have our late lunch in an island in the west coast of Incheon named 영종 (Yeongjong), where the international airport is also situated.

The first floor of the building is a fish and seafood market while 2 restaurants can be found on the second level. We ordered some fresh fish from the market and dined at the restaurant. There were lots of customers although it was a holiday but fortunately, we were able to grab a couple of vacant seats easily. Plus, we got to see a very nice view.

The starters were few side dishes, shrimps and shells and the main course is raw fish and 매운탕 (spicy fish soup).

Since we finished all the side dishes, the raw fish, and portion of the soup, we got full and asked them to pack the leftovers. Our total bill costed almost ₩40,000 and surprisingly, they also charged us ₩2,000 each for the dipping sauce (초고추장 / hot pepper paste with vinegar).

We haven’t tried anything like this in the Philippines because we are cautious of poor sanitation. At Yeongjongdo, the food was fresh and the market and restaurant seem clean. But after eating, we both got stomach cramps. Thank goodness, no occurrences of diarrhea and/or vomiting. Nevertheless, it was a good experience.

Have you tried eating at any local fish market? How was it? I’d love to hear your stories. 🙂